Pov, Marcelo
Luciana wants to see me?
Maybe it's time to celebrate finally having her?
I can't help but smile when I see the beautiful Luciana sitting on the edge of the building, her pink hair swaying in the wind as she completes my painting.
I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket and walk over to her. I sit next to her, and she's silently enjoying the city lights.
I start to say something, but she says it without even looking at me. "If I accept you, will you leave William alone?"
What a selfless woman!
I purse my lips, watching her sad face. I look away. I know what she's thinking right now.
She thinks I'm possessive or obsessed with her and will do anything to make her mine, even if it means hurting those around me.
It's true. I'm head over heels for you, Luciana.
I put my hand on her cheek and turn her head towards me so we're looking at each other.
I say in a calm voice, "It's been a while, and you still have feelings for him. Why?"
I keep looking at her teary-eyed pearls and expect her to lecture me on love.
But it doesn't go as I expected when she suddenly says, "Then help me get rid of that feeling. I'm tired."
I'm surprised when she runs her hand along my cheek and even smiles a little. My heart is beating like a drum.
I'm taken aback by what I just heard. I can't tell if this is a dream or if Luciana finally gave in to me after years of trying.
"Are you serious?"
She doesn't answer me. She just strokes my hair and then grabs it really hard. I scream because it hurts, and she just smiles at me.
"What are you doing!"
"You?" I say, sounding a bit groggy, as I notice her features suddenly change and her terrifying face is right in front of mine.
"You haven't stopped being an asshole, Marcelo."
She's not Luciana.
It's Luna.
I was tricked.
"Hey, Marcelo."
The little goblin's voice catches my attention, and I blink twice when I see him waving a wooden stick in the air and smiling.
Then I realize that he had pulled it out of my jacket pocket while I was getting a little too excited with a chubby witch who is my mother's age.
She's got curly red hair and a big mole in the center of her chin.
I'm starting to feel a bit sick.
"You're going home, and you're going to have to learn some new things, okay, little Marcelo?"
The dirty wizard talks to me in a mean way and won't let me get away. She moves her stick towards me and taps my forehead with it.
I'm down to the size of a fingernail now.
"Just take his stick and save your dad, Evander. As soon as you touch him, the magic will be reversed." She says.
I try to yell, but I barely make a sound. She grabs my feet and holds me upside down. I gasp in panic and cover my face with both hands. I can see my body almost crammed into her mouth.
I'm not food, bitch!
She laughs loudly and throws me into a small cage.
"I won't eat you. Don't worry."
"Not yet," she says, smiling wider.
"Leave me alone, you monster!"
...
Pov, Evander
"Dad, please stop crying. It's all over. Just call it a nightmare, okay?"
I try to make him feel better by sitting with him on the bed and stroking his back, but he suddenly shoves my hand away.
His sobs are getting louder. He wraps the blanket around his body and says in a muffled voice. His face is glued to the pillow, which is filled with his tears.
"Don't touch me! I'm dirty. I can't believe I was a mouse. Handsome William was a mouse!"
I bite the inside of my cheek and exhale, feeling a bit helpless. He's been repeating the word "mouse" for, like, half an hour.
He gets up and walks away from me, still covered in the blanket.
"Where are you going?"
I follow him with my eyes, and he answers in a hoarse voice. He turns the handle of the bathroom door, turns to me, and stares at me with melted eyes. "I'm going to take a shower."
"I'll still love you even if you're the ugliest creature!"
I smile big, but I flinch when the door opens again, and I gasp when I see a little bottle being thrown at me, almost hitting me if I didn't dodge it just in time.
...
Pov, William
I left the bathroom after spending an hour in there, scrubbing my body to get rid of that gross odor that just won't seem to go away.
Or maybe that's what I thought.
"I'll kill that bastard!" I yell as I toss the towel that I used to wipe my hair. I'm standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking for Evander.
"Evander? Where are you, you giant baby?"
I call out to the goblin, but he doesn't answer. I'm full of questions, and I start to panic a little when I go into the kitchen to look for him. Then I stop in my tracks, and my shoulders shake with fear when I see what's there.
"What a monster!" I let out a startled yelp and take a step back.
There's a fat, red-haired woman sitting on a chair and staring at me, and my son, who's sitting on the opposite chair, is smiling broadly at me.
I grab Evander by the arm and make him stand behind me, speaking in a loud voice. "Who are you? What do you want?"
I'm surprised by her reaction, and I watch her closely. She just smiles strangely and chews the biscuit, making these annoying noises.
Does she think I'm joking?
Then there's a few seconds of silence that are driving me nuts, and finally, my son breaks the silence. "Don't worry, Dad. This witch is a friend of my mother's."
I take a deep breath and my heart starts pounding when I hear "witch."
Are you going to turn me into an omelet this time?
We quickly switch roles, and I hide behind my son, clinging tightly to his shirt with my eyes closed because I'm really afraid of witches.
"Please don't hurt me."
"If I hadn't stepped in, Cynthia would've finished you off and totally destroyed that handsome face of yours."
Hey, wait a sec.
Is she talking to me?
What's she saying?
I open my eyes, which almost pop out of their sockets, when I see her standing in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest, smiling, knowing that I want to understand what she had just said.
...
A few minutes later, I'm on the couch, listening closely as she starts to speak. I'm not as scared of her as I was before.
Almost.
I'm lost in thought, and part of what I guessed was true.
As soon as Cynthia found out about me, she used me as a way to threaten Rose to get what she wanted.
This made my wife afraid, so she asked the witch sitting on the couch in front of me to cast a spell on me to protect me from the vampire.
Rose was far from me and yet close to me.
"I'm no expert on romance, so I can't help you. But," The redhead's words make me flinch, and I look at her with narrowed eyes.
I didn't ask for your help!
My shoulders shake as she sits next to me, staring at me, and then she continues. "I can help you find your mom."
"What?" I look at her, totally surprised, and she asks, "Do you have any pictures of your mom?"
"What?" I'm still a bit confused.
"Are you an idiot ? How can I help you if I don't know what she looks like?"
Her loud voice startles me, so I quickly get up from the couch and look for my phone. I put it in her hand.
Why's she so nervous?
"That's it. I only have one."
I'm watching her tap the screen with her stick, and my mom's picture disappears in the blink of an eye.
"What did you do!" I yell in panic and grab the phone out of her hand quickly, not believing what she had just done to my last remaining memory of her, until tears almost form in my eyes.
She slaps the back of my head and I groan, staring at her as she talks, "Take this."
She hands me a little crystal ball, and I keep it in my hand without saying anything. Then she says, "This ball will lead you to her. Just look for her in the city, and when you're close, the crystal will start flashing as a sign."
I furrow my eyebrows, trying to understand what she's saying, and I look at the goblin, who gives me a lost look in return.
He grabs the crystal ball out of my hand and starts looking at it closely, smiling like he's got something really precious.
"Oh, give me one just like it, Aunt Luna. I love it." He says.
Why does he like round things?
But, um...
It's like panning for gold. Where should I start looking? London isn't a chamber.
"That's tough."
I look up at her again and realize I'm talking to the void.
She's out of the picture.
...